The Sports Xchange

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans made some unusual moves among their cuts to 53 players, and then continued to tinker with the roster even after final cuts were due.

The Titans’ initial cuts included keeping five tight ends on the roster and only four wide receivers. The Titans released veteran Hakeem Nicks among their cuts and also let go of young receivers Rico Richardson and Tre McBride, though they re-signed both of them to the practice squad.

That means the Titans, barring another roster move, will enter the regular season with only four receivers on the 53-man roster.

That group includes veterans Harry Douglas and Kendall Wright as well as Justin Hunter, who has been a bit of a disappointment in his first two seasons, and rookie Dorial Green-Beckham, a second-round pick, who has big potential, but is a bit of a wild card after sitting out his final college season under NCAA transfer rules.

The Titans had five tight ends on their roster, but then released Chase Coffman on Sunday, cutting their number to four, though there was the chance that Coffman could return to the Titans before the first game. Coffman led the Titans in the preseason with 12 catches for 159 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He was with the team last year, having been re-signed after being cut in camp initially in 2014.

But the biggest move by the Titans may have been the acquisition of running back Terrance West, who was a third-round pick of the Cleveland Browns last year. West comes to the Titans in exchange for conditional seventh-round pick in the 2016 draft after having worn out his welcome in Cleveland after only one season. He had 673 yards rushing last year to lead the Browns, a number that is higher than Titans leading rusher Bishop Sankey had a year ago.

West will now figure into the crowded mix at running back with Sankey, Antonio Andrews and Dexter McCluster.

As the Titans get ready for the regular season, it is evident that the offense is still a bit in flux with the recent flurry of moves that have them with as many tight ends as wide receivers and running backs. It will be interesting to see with the Titans second in line behind Tampa Bay on waiver claims for the season’s first quarter, how much roster tinkering they continue to do throughout the course of the season as they try to improve on last year’s dismal 2-14 record but also try to assemble as many pieces as possible for new quarterback Marcus Mariota.

–The Titans finally turned the page on disappointing guard Andy Levitre, sending him to the Atlanta Falcons for a sixth-round pick in 2016 and a conditional future pick in a later year.

Levitre had been the starter for two seasons with the Titans after having signed a six-year, $46.8 million deal in 2013 as the supposed fix for an inconsistent and ailing offensive line. The writing was on the wall for Levitre after he was benched following the preseason opener, ironically against the Falcons. He played on the second team in the next two preseason games and did not play at all in the preseason finale against the Vikings, which led to much speculation that he would be released.

Instead, he was dealt for a pair of draft picks.

“We felt like it was an opportunity for both clubs and the player. It was a good situation. I really appreciate the time that Andy has put in here. I think one of the things I respect most about Andy is, he’s a good football player, but he’s also very good in the community, and that’s something that I think is really important,” Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “I’m happy for Andy because he gets an opportunity to go down and play and potentially start in Atlanta, and it was something that was certainly good for us, so we’re ready to move on.”

–Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota finished strong in the preseason, despite playing just one series. The Titans had debated internally about holding Mariota out in the finale against the Vikings. But they decided to play him, and the rookie wound up throwing his only touchdown of the preseason, finding Harry Douglas on a shallow cross that the receiver turned into a 59-yard touchdown catch.

“(Harry) was actually the second receiver coming into my vision. The first was coming out of the backfield and they ended up covering that really well and Harry kind of ran a shallow and was open,” Mariota said. “We kind of knew going in that they had some hard times following the shallow wraps and Harry just made a great play.”

–Running back David Cobb was placed on injured reserve with a designation to return, meaning he will spend at least half the season recovering from a calf injury.